CuriosityStream Deploys Infortrend Storage to Satisfy Its High Speed SVOD Platform Requirements

SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — CuriosityStream, a subscription video on demand (SVOD) platform that provides ad-free, factual television content on demand via apps and streaming devices, has been experiencing rapid data growth and has therefore chosen Infortrend’s EonStor DS 3060 RAID solutions as the best way to enhance its high speed, scalability, smart space utilization and easy deployment.

Being an SVOD business, CuriosityStream required high read-write speeds and huge capacity to support multiple editors who work simultaneously on multiple video streams. Apart from requiring ample storage, saving the footprint of the physical space was also a major concern. After reviewing almost all video storage players and considering the abovementioned factors, the strong performance (1.3M IOPS), ample storage and high density (60 drives in a 4U chassis) of the EonStor DS 3060 were the best solution for CuriosityStream’s needs.

Another benefit CuriosityStream found with the EonStor DS 3060 was easy integration and deployment. CuriosityStream Server Manager Ray German said: “Since we were able to integrate the solution ourselves with the Apple Xsan system, I can conservatively say we easily saved $50,000 to $100,000 dollars.”

German adds: “I am extremely happy with Infortrend’s EonStor DS 3060 and the support the Infortrend team provided during its implementation. With one device, we were able to quadruple our storage and performance. All I can say is ‘Thank you Infortrend, great product!'”

“With Infortrend’s EonStor DS and ATTO’s Thunderbolt™ Desklink Devices, together we provide an ideal solution for this editing environment. I trust that more and more M&E customers will benefit from this solution,” said Wayne Arvidson, VP of Sales & Marketing at ATTO Technology.

“Infortrend offers a rock solid solution for customers who need large capacity on a tight budget. Their fully redundant architecture, flexible connectivity, scalability and simplistic licensing and support help customers solve problems where other solutions simply can’t compete. This was the case for CuriosityStream’s Ray German. He was faced with the challenge of finding a cost effective solution to support editing multiple 4K video streams. Infortrend came to the rescue. The solution met his budgetary requirements while exceeding performance expectations and he couldn’t be happier,” said Michael Ellison, Vice President of Sales at Virtual Graffiti, an authorized reseller partner of Infotrend.

For more information about EonStor DS 3060, please click here. For the full story about the CuriosityStream case, please click here.

About CuriosityStream

CuriosityStream is the world’s first ad-free, on-demand streaming service for factual videos that inform, educate and entertain. Viewers watch choice documentary programming from around the world starting at $2.99 a month anytime, anywhere across multiple devices. CuriosityStream brings together leading-edge technology and premium content that allows viewers to take virtual journeys through science, technology, civilization and the human spirit. Learn more at CuriosityStream.com and follow us on Twitter @Curiosity_Strm.

About Infortrend

Founded in 1993, Infortrend (TWSE: 2495) is a leading provider of high performance storage solutions focusing on quality, reliability, choice, and value. Fueled by technological expertise, Infortrend storage has been deployed in demanding applications by users across commercial and industrial markets. Core brands include ESVA, EonStor DS, EonStor, and EonNAS. Please visit www.infortrend.com.

About ATTO Technology, Inc.

ATTO Technology, Inc. is a global leader of storage connectivity and infrastructure solutions for data-intensive computing environments. ATTO provides a wide range of solutions to help customers store, manage and deliver their data more efficiently. With a focus toward markets that require higher performance, ATTO manufactures host and RAID adapters, converged network adapters, bridges, switches, RAID storage controllers, and management software. ATTO solutions provide connectivity to all storage interfaces including Fibre Channel, SAS, SATA, iSCSI, FCoE, 10GbE and Thunderbolt. ATTO distributes its products worldwide directly to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), systems integrators, VARs and authorized distributors. Contact ATTO Technology, Inc. world headquarters at: 155 CrossPoint Parkway, Amherst, New York 14068; Phone: +1 716 691 1999; Fax: +1 716 691 9353; Website: http://www.attotech.com/

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Infortrend®, ESVA®, EonStor®, SANWatch®, and EonPath® are trademarks or registered trademarks of Infortrend Technology, Inc. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Infortrend Corporation
Hoa Truong
Tel: 408-419-2403
E-mail: hoa.truong@infortrend.com

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Le Shi to Unveil Super Smartphone on April 14, Create the New “Ecological Age”

HONG KONG, April 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — One of the China’s most popular online video sites, Le Holdings (Beijing) Limited (Le Shi), has officially invited the press in early April to an announcement themed “From 1984 to 2015” at which the firm will unveil its Super Smartphone that will bring about unprecedented changes to user experience and the way the industry operates. The announcement will start at 14:00 on April 14 at the MasterCard Center in Beijing, China.

The theme “From 1984 to 2015” represents a new milestone in 2015. “While Apple’s announcement of its Macintosh computer in 1984 was seen as the beginning of a new age, Le Shi’s announcement of its Super Smartphone in 2015 will “overturn” Apple — the one who originally overturned — by bringing smartphones over to the new “Ecological Age,” remarked Le Shi’s Chairman Jia Yueting.

Le Shi’s Chairman on Weibo: An invitation to break boundaries

That particular theme and its implication are also echoed in Jia’s media invitation to the announcement from his Weibo account. He includes a graphic piece in which the “App” in “Apple” is crossed out, with only the “le” in “Le Shi” left untouched.

Jia’s Weibo invite themed “No Ecosystem Nothing Super” reads: “our time is changing; roles have changed but our spirit never changes! From 1984 to 2015, Le Shi invites you to #BreakBoundaries, EcologicalOverturn#; see you at 2pm on 4-14.”

The Chairman has proactively publicized the concepts behind the new smartphone and questioned Apple’s industrial design and its closed system after his surgery to cure Thymoma in November 2014, though he has not made any public appearance since then.

The new, transformative Eco User Interface of Super Smartphone

While high-performance, gorgeous appearance, a focus on the service-first ecological mode, and unrivaled features — such as all-metal bodies, no-frame industrial design, Qualcomm’s flagship 810 chipset, HiFi stereo components, and the highest-resolution camera — will enable Le Shi’s Super Smartphone to surpass offerings by major competitors, the core edge of the Super Smartphone is the EUI (Eco User Interface) system.

“An interactive system between users and ecosystem, EUI is cross-ecology and across terminals’ central nervous systems. EUI re-defines smartphone’s UI system, allowing smartphones to move from the intelligence age to the ecology age,” said Le Shi.

EUI will also act as the core of a complete ecosystem that transforms the existing hardware-software integrated smartphone.

“Numerous new players have entered the smartphone market, but nobody seems to put users’ core benefits first,” Jia pointed out. “At Le Shi, we firmly believe that only the ecosystem of platform+content+terminal+applications will bring changes to user experience and the way the industry operates.”

About Letv

Founded in November 2004 by Jia Yueting, a celebrated pioneer in China’s Internet landscape, Letv Group is committed to creating the “Letv Ecosystem,” a next-generation Internet engine that is vertically-integrated to offer an online platform completed with content, terminals and applications. The Group is engaged in a rich array of businesses, spanning from Internet TV, video production and distribution, smart gadgets and large-screen applications to e-commerce, eco-agriculture and Internet-linked super-electric cars, which were launched in late 2014. The Group comprises a number of subsidiaries, including Letv.com, Leshi Zhi Xin, Le Vision Pictures, Wangjiu.com, Letv Holding, Letv Investment Management and Le Mobile. In 2014, the aggregate sales of the Group amounted to approximately RMB 10 billion.

Clash of Kings to Hit the Google Play Top Free Chart Worldwide

NEW YORK and BERLIN, April 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Following on from the months of domination by Clash of Kings in the worldwide highest grossing apps top 10, and weeks as the most downloaded app in Germany, Google Play has recognized the game in the top free chart worldwide.

App discovery is still a big issue in the mobile app industry, and one thing to understand is that no amount of marketing, advertising and promotion is going to make a bad app popular. The first step in promoting an app is to build one that is worth promoting. Built based on market research and iterate improvements, Clash of Kings has great features, an intuitive UI and is faster than competitor apps. These advantages make the game more competitive than other hit games.

It is critical to understand the value a top ranking game will bring a company because this could affect the top grossing chart of 2014 completely. What can reaching those top spots actually do for Clash of Kings? “We want Clash of Kings to dominate Google Play‘s list of most downloaded apps in 2015,” said the company. “Our game is freemium with good retention rates and monetized with virtual goods. With hard work growing our DAUs and maintaining stickiness to create a high proportion of true fans, our game could eventually hold the top spot in popularity among mobile users worldwide.”

However, the exact details of the ranking algorithm are a closely guarded secret, and it could be interesting to see how Elex Inc. will compete with the thousands of other developers all trying to rank their apps among a small, finite number of positions at the top.

“From eight years of experience in game development and publishing, we have a great understanding of some factors that contribute to how a game ranks,” said the company. “We’ve made Clash of Kings social, freemium and localized to create a low barrier to entry for anyone to play worldwide.”

Clash of Kings is a real-time strategy game where players build an empire and defend it. To play Clash of Kings for free, for Android click here, for iOS click here, and for PC click here.

Contact:
Hyde Hao
Phone Number: +86 (0)10 82800116
Email: haoxiuwu@elex-tech.com

Photo – http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150331/195595

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New Technology Solves Minecraft Addiction and Puts Parents Back in Control

SYDNEY, March 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Sydney-based technology startup KoalaSafe today launches a solution to the growing problem of internet and game addiction. With a single box, parents can now protect and manage all their children’s devices with a simple smartphone interface.

“KoalaSafe helps parents restore the balance. Instead of constant fights over how much time children have spent on Minecraft or Clash of Clans, or having to check every single site and app kids are using, parents just setup time limits and the type of sites they think are OK for their kids, and Koala does the rest,” says founder, Steve Pack.

“I saw it first hand with my nephew becoming more addicted to Minecraft every day. It was a constant battle for my sister to manage his time and I thought, there has to be a better way. That’s when KoalaSafe was born.”

Internet and gaming addiction is a global phenomenon, with 80% of kids exceeding recommended screen time limits by up to 2-3 times, up from only 25% in 2006.[1] Internet Gaming Addiction is now included in the psychiatric handbook, the DSM-5.

The company is young, but growing fast, with a recent AU$50,000 injection from Startmate, a leading Sydney tech accelerator and is already in homes all around the country. It is also among the growing number of startups taking the 1% pledge, a form of early-stage corporate philanthropy.

http://koalasafe.com

For more information contact:

Steve Pack
Founder
+61-450-164-216
steve@koalasafe.com

Adam Mills
Founder
+61-410-389-092
adam@koalasafe.com

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Clash of Kings dominates Google Play list of most downloaded apps

BERLIN, March 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Since the latest update on Google Play last Tuesday, the Android version of Clash of Kings has been downloaded from Google Play like there’s no tomorrow! In the last seven days, the game has moved up the Google Play Store rankings to the top spot for free apps in Germany.

Following its launch for Android in Germany last October, this March has been a good month for the Clash of Kings app. The game finally brought its awesome popularity to hit Google Play in Germany over the last week, according to Elex Inc. “Getting our game localized to fit our target markets is a great way of reaching a wider audience,” said the company. “The goal of localization and multi-platformization is to create an enjoyable, non-confusing play experience for our different players by paying heed to their specific cultural context.”

The Battle for the Throne has been a popular feature for Clash of Kings players because it allows real-time alliance wars between millions of players. In the latest update 1.0.82, this feature has just been given massive improvements by strengthening the sociality and localization elements to fit in the German market. Through this, the feature has attracted tens of thousands of alliances worldwide, especially German players.

Elex Inc. launched Clash of Kings on the Google Play Store eight months ago and brought the game on the App Store nearly three months back. Since then the franchise has already been downloaded more than 40 million times worldwide. The app has been in the top 10 grossing apps for Google Play in 75 countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and Australia.

Clash of Kings is a real-time strategy game where players build an empire, and it involves elements such as city-building, castle defense, and conquering lands. In this massively multiplayer online game, you can challenge, team up with or just chat with other players from all over the world. To download Clash of Kings for free quickly and effectively, for Android click here, and for iOS click here.

CONTACT:
Hyde Hao
+86-10-8280-0116
haoxiuwu@elex-tech.com

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/clash-of-kings-dominates-google-play-list-of-most-downloaded-apps-300054042.html

Airwheel’s intelligent Self Balancing Electric Unicycle Attended Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA)

Intelligent Commuting a Focus

LANGKAWAI, Malaysia, March 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — With the rapid development of science and technology, the intelligent commute is forming an inevitable trend of future transport. Airwheel has placed great emphasizes on the development of intelligent commuting products. Airwheel‘s self balancing electric unicycle is going to start a revolution of eco-friendly commuters in 2015.

Airwheel’s intelligent scooters in the exhibition

Airwheel’s intelligent scooters in the exhibition

The 25thLIMA was held in Malaysia between 17th March and 21st March. Airwheel exhibited all lines of intelligent scooters in the exhibition. Thanks to the innovative intelligent experience, dashing exterior look, eco-friendly and energy-saving features, Airwheel‘s self balancing electric unicycle became the spotlight of the exhibition. 

LIMA has been one of the largest exhibitions displaying technology for national defence in Asia-Pacific regions since it was first held in 1991. The theme of this exhibition involves the civil and military aerospace, aerospace electric devices and the plans for maintenance and modern customization of airplanes. As the trend of saving energy and reducing emission grows, Airwheel brings a brand new personal transporter to meet the demand of intelligent commuting, aiming at protecting the environment and leading a green lifestyle.

The Airwheel S3 is the first model of intelligent self-balancing scooter launched by Airwheel Technology (Official website: http://www.airwheel.net). The appearance of the Airwheel S3 self balancing electric unicycle looks simple, streamlined and sleek. The mixture of blue, silver and white gives it a futuristic impression and draws every visitor’s attention.

In the exhibition, the on-site staff members of Airwheel gave a vivid show and guided visitors on how to control Airwheel scooters. Airwheel provided a couple of free demos of intelligent self balancing electric unicycle S3, so that visitors could get a better experience of Airwheel scooters.

http://www.airwheel.net/images/airwheel_14.jpg

With the rapid development of science and technology, the intelligent commute is forming an inevitable trend of future transport. Airwheel has placed great emphasizes on the development of intelligent commuting products. Airwheel is going to start a revolution of eco-friendly commuters in 2015.

Airwheel self balancing electric unicycle Website: http://www.airwheel.net

Photo – http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20150323/0861502164

ZPARK Haidian Park — An Entrepreneurial Paradise

BEIJING, March 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — In April 2014, a 10-square-meter fast-food restaurant, Singularity Brothers or “Xi Shao Ye,” opened in Beijing’s Zhongguancun Haidian Park and immediately attracting an enormous following. In its first 100 days, Singularity sold a record 200,000 hamburgers. Favorably reviewed by local media, the valuation of what was clearly a franchisable restaurant quickly shot up to RMB100 million. In September, another location opened in a Zhongguancun shopping center near KFC and enjoyed even greater popularity. The founders of the “Brothers” were now confident they could create a global franchise. Only in ZPARK, with its massive international influence, could the Singularity Brothers have gained such a huge following.

The fifth branch of this now very popular restaurant chain was opened in December 2014. It’s no coincidence, said Meng Bing, the founder of Singularity Brothers, that three of its first five shops were established in Zhongguancun. For Singularity, Meng Bing said, “The biggest medium (for promotion or advertising) is not CCTV or Baidu, but Zhongguancun.” In this new era, he said, Zhongguancun is undoubtedly the best place to create and find new and trendy hotspots because Zhongguancun is now widely viewed in China as “a gathering place for opinion leaders.”

Indeed, over the past 20 years, the impression that most people have of Zhongguancun has gradually changed from what it once was, a large electronics super mall, to what it is today — a center for innovation and strategic developments in technology and also a source of national pride.

In addition to Singularity, Zhongguancun also houses many important new businesses, not the least of which is Virtue Inno Valley. Located in Dinghao Building, Virtue’s offices were designed by master designers from Tsinghua University’s Department of Architecture — a small, simple but still very modern design.

“Only in an incubator just over 2000 square meters could a group atmosphere be obtained,” said Li Zhu, the originator of Virtue Inno Valley’s “angel open platform.” Mr. Li Zhu has over 20 years of entrepreneurial experience. Before launching Virtue Inno Valley, he set up a software company in partnership with another Tsinghua University alumnus and then sold it to Tsinghua Tongfang. Afterwards, Mr. Li became an angel investor and one of his first investments was UUSEE (http://www.uusee.com, a sports video website).

New success stories now occur at Virtue Inno Valley every day. Many of its clients often begin as poorly developed start-ups, but they frequently evolve into successful companies, some with potential valuations in excess of hundreds of millions of RMB. The foundation for Virtue Inno Valley is rooted to a large extent in its association with Tsinghua alumni. On Tsinghua University’s 100th anniversary, the Tsinghua Alumni Association of TMT (Technology, Media, Telecom) was created to help alumni do business. Not long after, the Association and THTI (Tsinghua Technology Innovation Holding Co.) together jointly helped launch Virtue Inno Valley. At that time, the government of Haidian District was leasing two out of the four floors in the Dinghao Building to Innovation Works and Tsinghua Science Park, respectively. The two floors are currently assigned to Tsinghua Science Park and managed by THTI, and as a result, Virtue Inno Valley now occupy the entire space. From the very beginning, it was Li Zhu’s intention to launch his incubator here and make it the first and most impressive “innovative” incubator in Zhongguancun.

Beijing provides one of the best business environments in China, and Zhongguancun is a perfect area for start-ups, in part, because of its the strong entrepreneurial atmosphere and its focus on innovation. There are also large Internet companies nearby, along with abundant talent from local colleges and universities, plus a great many financial and investment institutions. In addition, there’s also a good regional market in and around Zhongguancun. With Virtue, Zhongguancun now also has the additional infrastructure an organization to give entrepreneurs a wide range of professional value-added services.

The approach of traditional incubators is to rent low-cost office space and make a profit by carving up and renting space, often on a daily basis. However, within Virtue Inno Valley, Li Zhu expects that can really help entrepreneurs reduce their failure rates by helping to steer them in the right product direction. He can also help them connect with the resources they need to succeed. When it comes time for them to unveil their products, the Valley can also help them to find and secure the right promotional channels, find partners for cooperation and, if need be, obtain additional financing. In addition, the new incubator is also able to seed-fund many projects, as well as providing clients with many basic entrepreneurial services.

As a consequence, the biggest difference between this incubator and many other more traditional ones, Mr. Li asserted, is that “we just don’t rent a house” at a cheap price to entrepreneurs. Because Virtue Inno Valley is a community, not just a traditional incubator, it can offer its clients a “communicative atmosphere,” to small companies and small teams of people a path to succeed.

By learning from leading incubators like Y Combinator (YC), as well as from the experiences of other small incubators in Silicon Valley, plus the experiences of more than 500 start-ups, Virtue Inno Valley has also created an infrastructure for entrepreneurs, very similar in essence to a cross-enterprise team. So it’s not uncommon to see new start-ups bringing their computers to the site on their first day of business. Next, Virtue provides them with a place to work and assists them with registration. Office staff from law firms and finance firms are also on site to help them solve problems. The incubator also provides them with cloud services and helps them connect with Amazon, Aliyun, Baidu Cloud and other large platforms. In time, Li Zhu predicts, “countless billionaires will be born here.”

In Virtue Inno Valley’s experience, the most urgent demands of many early-stage entrepreneurs often involve the need for both capital and guidance. That’s why professional value-added services and investment functions are always made available to member companies by Virtue Inno Valley. Entrepreneurs can also learn from the past mistakes of other entrepreneurs, and well as from their achievements — another reason why Virtue Inno Valley is so valuable to its tenants.

Virtue Inno Valley often likes to say it offers members an “open” environment, and in many important respects, it does. First, Virtue is open to entrepreneurs. Even entrepreneurial teams, which do not receive financial investment from Virtue, are strongly supported by the incubator. Second, Virtue is open to investors from the Internet and other enterprises in other industries. As a result, Virtue is in a position to communicate with investors about all of its projects. In fact, Virtue routinely holds entrepreneurial competitions in partnership with Microsoft, Tencent, Baidu and other industry leaders. Thirdly, the incubator is also very involved to international markets. Virtue, just to give one example, recently formed a strategic partnership with Telefonica which operates incubators in no less than 12 countries. As a result, entrepreneurs at Virtue have access to potential partners as they expand overseas.

Currently, Zhongguancun is very active in securing domestic venture capital investment. Besides Virtue Inno Valley, the Garage Coffee and other new entrepreneurial service providers, Zhongguancun also works very closely with IDG Capital Partners, Legend Capital, Capital Today, Northern Light Venture Capital, Walden International, CEYUAN, Infotech, TusPark Ventures, Shenzhen Capital and other well-known institutions – all of whom are partners with ZPARK in Haidian Park. For instance, IDG has invested a number of high tech enterprises in ZPARK Haidian Park, including most famous and successful mobile internet companies in China like 360, Xiaomi, Baidu and etc.

Relying on industrial advantage of ZPARK, the overall formula for “incubator + accelerator + Science Park” is beginning to take shape. In the future, ZPARK will also energetically explore upscale services accelerating the incubation for both the middle and later stages of the industrial chain. At the same time it will continue to provide a strong incubation service for the enterprises at seed and startup stages. It will also establish step-by-step systems for “pre-incubation + full incubation + professional incubation + accelerating incubation.” ZPARK will also build a promotional service platform for incubators within the Software Park, aiming for high integration of industry for both upstream and downstream firms, and meeting the requirements in all aspects of “cluster incubation” and “professional incubation.” In this way, it can facilitate the concentration and scaled development for many kinds of business and industries.

In addition, its innovative and entrepreneurial avenues will also continue to pay attention to and research global innovative and entrepreneurial trends, and explore, experiment and promote new ways of thinking. This process will inevitably cultivate a group of new entrepreneurial service providers to inject both new blood and fresh ideas into Zhongguancun.

When we think of Silicon Valley, we always think Apple, HP and other world-famous science and technology giants. When we think of Zhongguancun, we think of Baidu and MIUI developed by Xiaomi. They are both the result in no small part to the incubation cultivated within ZPARK Haidian Park — “China’s Silicon Valley.” With help from ZPARK, these high-tech Chinese enterprises from China are now in a position to develop into true global brands. Currently, ZPARK is in the midst of realizing its strategic goal of building scientific and technological innovation centers with global influence, and through these innovations, transforming the park into a true China Silicon Valley.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zpark-haidian-park—-an-entrepreneurial-paradise-300054139.html